Rounds 4 and 5

C - K
G45 Owen Sound (4), 19.08.2006
B03 - Alekhine's Defense : Exchange Variation

1.e4 Nf6 The Alekhine from the Arch-Duke himself :) 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.b3= [10.b3= and I offered a draw here because I had burned my hand on coffee and Jane was stomping around making noise, but Kirk showed me his idea of 10...f5 11.Qd2 and it looks strong. here's a line 11...e5 12.Bg5 Qc7 (12...Qe8 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.0-0 e4 15.c5 Nd7 (15...Nd5 16.Nxd5 exd3 17.Nc7 Qf7 18.Nxa8 Bxa1 19.Rxa1 Be6 20.Re1 Rxa8 21.Qxd3 Bd5 22.Bc1) 16.Bc4+ Kh8 17.Nb5 exf3 18.Rae1 Nde5 19.Nc7 fxg2 20.Kxg2 Nxc4 21.bxc4 Qf7 22.Nxa8; 13.c5 dxc5 14.dxc5 Nd7 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.0-0 e4 17.Nd5 Qa5 18.b4 Nxb4 19.Be7 Re8 20.Ng5] ½-½

K - C
G45 Owen Sound (5), 26.08.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation

Game 5 and I hadn't been playing well v. Kirk. 1.e4 c6 We had just gone live with Cerner stuff at work so I figured it would be best to get into a comfortable position 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Kirk's regular.



I can see why so many beginners think this is the greatest line v. the Caro-Kann. When i was looking at this during the game, I cursed myself for not playing something more active. Of course it's not bad, just passive 5...Nd7 going for my regular...the Karpov knights at e7and d7, then push c5 and Nc6 [is the mainline 5...c5 ] 6.0-0 Ne7 7.Nh4 Qb6 [7...c5 is the mainline and;
7...Be4 has been tried by Adams v. Shirov. After all these years of telling Kirk to play Nh4 he has recently been listening ;);
7...Bg6] 8.c3 [in my Caro book the stem line was Short-Adams, English Championship 1991. It went 8.Nxf5 Nxf5 9.c3 c5 10.Bd3 Ne7 (10...g6 Nunn-Adams, Brussells 1992 11.Re1 Nb8 12.Bxf5 gxf5 13.c4 dxc4 14.d5 Nd7 15.Na3 0-0-0 16.Bg5 Re8 17.Nxc4) ] 8...Bxb1?! the book says "gives White a comfortable edge". I figured that the knight would have to move still, and I wouldn't have to worry about the capture. Of course, that was just laziness on my part. Now he can easily develop his bishop and it didn't go in well with my Qb6 move. Oh well, live and learn. Also I wanted to be able to play Nc6 after c5. [8...c5 9.Nxf5 Nxf5 10.Na3] 9.Rxb1 c5 10.Be3! Showing the stupidity (well stupidity is too harsh)...weakness of my last move 10...Nc6 11.f4?! I think this was premature becaue it almost forces me to stop from castlign kingside [11.Nf3 I was thinking about this sort of thing (of course also after i moved Be7). 11...Be7 12.a3 and then lockign up the center and queenside and only then coming in for the kill on the kingside 12...0-0 13.b4 c4] 11...Be7 12.Nf3 f5!? Spectacularly unsound ;) My plan in all of these is to avoid castling, but i think the weakening of the e-pawn might have told. He can double up on the e-file. fairly easily 13.dxc5?! Now I'm fine [13.exf6 Nxf6 was stronger 14.Ng5 Kd7 15.Bg4 and he's better. I wouldn't feel comfortable defendign this position] 13...Bxc5 14.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 15.Kh1 Ke7!? This was a good move. It allowed me to kick the kngiht and move over to c7 eventually. [15...h6 was slow] 16.Ng5 [16.Qd2] 16...h6 17.Nh3 Rag8 [They said 17...g5 right away] 18.g4? I thought it was weak too ;) at least my king can run away if all the pawns come off 18...g5 [18...fxg4 19.Bxg4 then 19...g5] 19.gxf5 exf5 20.fxg5?! [20.Bf3! g4 (20...Nb6 21.Qd3 (21.Bg2 g4 22.Ng1 h5 23.Qd3 Ke6 24.Rbd1 (24.Rfc1 h4 25.b4 Qc4) 24...Rd8; 21...g4 22.b4 Qc4 23.Qxc4 dxc4 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Nf2; 21.Bxd5 attacks the rook] 20...hxg5 21.Rxf5? but it's still tough 21...Rxh3 22.Bg4 Rh4 23.e6 Nf6 24.Rxf6 Ne5? [24...Kxf6! still held 25.Qf3+ Kg7! (but i only saw 25...Ke7?? 26.Qf7+ Kd6 27.Qd7+ Ke5 28.Qc7+ Ke4 29.Re1+ Kd3 30.Qg3+ bitch 30...Kc4 (30...Kc2 31.Qg2+ Qf2 32.Qxf2+ Kd3 33.Qe2#) 31.Be2#; 26.Qf7+ Kh8 and it holds] 25.Rf5 [Stronger was 25.Rf7+ Nxf7 26.exf7 Kxf7 and it's just the exchange and his cornered king ;)] 25...Nxg4 26.Qe2 Rxh2+ an interesting game. Even if I got mated I would've enjoyed this one...of course I won so that's a different story completely ;) 0-1

Round Three

K - C
G45 Owen Sound (3), 14.08.2006
C55 - Two Knights Game

Kirk got some revenge this game 1.e4 e5 I was gonna play the Caro and stop him from playing 1.e4 eventually but I really had some decent ideas in the Ruy. Next time maybe 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7?! [I should've played 4...Nxe4 but I wanted not to mix it up;
or even something less passive like 4...Bc5 ] 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 d6 7.h3 Kirk chooses a passive line so I choose to get the bishop pair 7...Na5 8.Bb3 Nxb3 9.axb3 h6 Our opening play is at the level of the U16 girls Arctic Championship
[9...c5 was stronger, making him work for his d4-push] 10.d4 exd4 11.Nxd4 a6 [I could even play 11...c5 now] 12.Nd5 Nxd5 [12...Nxe4 13.Re1 f5 14.Nxe7+ Qxe7 15.f3 c5;
12...c6] 13.exd5 Bd7 14.Qf3 Rc8 [14...Bg5 may have been better] 15.Bf4 c5 [15...Bf6] 16.dxc6 Bxc6 17.Nxc6 Rxc6 18.Rfd1 Rxc2 [18...Bg5] 19.Qxb7 Rxb2 20.Rxa6 Qe8?? A brutal move [20...Qc8! 21.Qxe7 Qxa6 22.Bxd6 Rc8] 21.Re1 Qb8 22.Rxe7 Rxb3 23.Qxb8 Rfxb8 24.Raa7 Rf8 25.Bxd6 Rd3 26.Red7 Re8 27.Rxf7 Rxd6 28.Rxg7+ Kh8 29.Rgf7 Rc6 30.Rf5 Rg8 31.Raf7 Rd6 32.g4 Re6 33.Kg2 Rg7 34.Kg3 Kg8 35.Rxg7+ Kxg7 36.Kh4 Re2 [36...Kg6] 37.Kh5 Re6 38.h4 Rd6 39.g5 hxg5 40.hxg5 Re6 41.f4 Re1 42.Re5 Rh1+ 43.Kg4 Rg1+ 44.Kf5 Kf7 45.Re6 [45.g6+ Rxg6 46.Re7+ Kxe7 47.Kxg6] 45...Rf1 46.Ra6 Kg7 47.Ra7+ Kf8 48.g6 Kg8 49.Kg5 Rf2 50.f5 Rf1 51.Kf6 I could've resigned 30 moves ago but our thing was to play on till mate 1-0

Game Two

C - K
G45 Owen Sound (2), 12.08.2006
C19 - French: Winawer, advance, positional main line

A bit of a miniature today 1.e4 e6 [I was hoping he'd play 1...e5 but I suspected he'd play the French] 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 [I had been avoiding the Winawer for years with 3.e5 but I figured what the hell ] 3...Bb4 4.e5 [Of course there's a lot of decent ways to play this 4.Qg4 ;
4.a3;
Even 4.Bd2 ] 4...c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Nf3 [Avoiding the Poisoned Pawn 7.Qg4 which I know Kirk likes] 7...Qc7 8.Bd3?! [8.a4 is the mainline but I wanted to castle...I've dropped a c-pawn too many times in the Winawer...this also contains a trap] 8...0-0? [8...b6 is the mainline;
Botwinnik tried 8...Nd7 ] 9.Bxh7+ Kxh7 10.Ng5+ Kg8 11.Qh5 [11.Qh5 and he resigns. I imagine he could play on a little longer but it looks tough 11...Rd8 12.Qh7+ Kf8 13.Qh8+ Ng8 14.Nh7+ Ke7 15.Bg5+ Kd7 16.Bxd8 Qxd8 17.Qxg7 I was happy enough with my play. I could never have been set up better for the h7-sack ever] 1-0

Game 1

me and K decided to have a match over the rest of the summer, with the first to win 4 games. here's game one

K - C
G45 Owen Sound (1), 10.08.2006
D40 - QGD: Semi-Tarrasch defense, Pillsbury variation

First game. First half serious game I've played since Canadian Open 1.d4 I expected 1.e4. Now I have to rethink everything ;) 1...d5 [I also considered 1...c6 ;
1...Nf6;
1...f5] 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 A surprise for Kirk I'm sure [I also considered 4...c6 but avoided it because 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4;
4...Bb4 may be in the future] 5.Bg5 Pillsbury variation [5.cxd5 Nxd5 is the mainline semi-Tarrasch(5...exd5 6.g3 Be7 7.Bg2 0-0 8.0-0 Nc6 is the Tarrasch) ;
5.e3] 5...Nc6? [5...cxd4 6.Nxd4 (6.Qxd4 Be7= MCO) 6...e5! 7.Nf3 d4 Euwe-Alekhine] 6.cxd5 Nxd4 [6...exd5 7.Bxf6 gxf6 looks good for White. I tried to mix it up] 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Be7 9.e4 0-0 [9...Nxd5 can't be played until after castled because of both 10.Bb5+ (10.Qxg7) ] 10.Bxf6 I missed this 10...Bxf6 11.e5 Bg5 [11...Be7 12.d6 Bg5] 12.f4 Bh6 13.d6 a6 [To stop Bb5 but 13...f6 14.Bb5 wouldn't necessarily be so bad] 14.Bc4 Bd7 15.0-0 Bc6 16.g4 Qh4 17.Qd1 b5 18.Bd3 f6 19.Be4 Bxe4 20.Nxe4 f5? [20...fxe5 21.g5 Rxf4 22.Rxf4 Qxf4] 21.Nc5 fxg4 22.Nxe6 g3 23.Qd2 [I thought that 23.Qe2 was better but after 23...Bxf4] 23...gxh2+ 24.Qxh2?? [This is painful but necessary 24.Kh1 Rfc8 25.d7] 24...Qg4+ 25.Kh1 Qxe6 26.Rac1 [26.Rad1] 26...Qd5+ 27.Kg1 Qd4+ 28.Qf2 Qxf2+ 29.Rxf2 Bxf4 and I win the first game. He probably could've played on but we'll learn to play harder 0-1

in an unrelated note, Neil Frarey is planning on bidding on the Canadian Open at the University of Carleton in 2007. Good luck Neil!